Raptors Fever Takes Toronto, as a Diverse City Embraces a Team That Looks Like It

The only really important things in this life: monkeyball and diversity!

In Toronto and its suburbs, where about half the population consists of people of color, and many are immigrants, it is not just about the basketball. The ethnically and nationally diverse Raptors reflect Canada’s largest city in the 21st century.

“You only see white people playing hockey,” said Andrew Nguyen, 19, whose parents came to Toronto from Vietnam. “But basketball is more like what the nation is like.”

He said most people he knew preferred basketball to hockey because “not a lot of people can afford that equipment.” He said, “Basketball is a lot cheaper and easier to get into than hockey.”

Mr. Nguyen, a friend and teammate in the pickup game, which included a player with one arm, said it was not just the cost: He simply does not relate to hockey.